Method and system for segmenting and transmitting on-demand live-action video in real-time

ABSTRACT

A method and system for producing video-segments of a live-action event involving monitoring a live-action event for detection of event-segments, detecting one or more event-triggers with detectors, determining if an event-segment occurred based on the detected event-triggers, and editing one or more video feeds into a video-segment to encompass the event-segment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/732,776 filed Jan. 2, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/106,551 filed Aug. 21, 2018 (now U.S. Pat. No.10,565,453), which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/682,032 filed Apr. 8, 2015 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,102,430), which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/111,738 filed May19, 2011 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,141,860), which is a continuation-in-partof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/272,170 filed Nov. 17, 2008 (nowU.S. Pat. No. 9,141,859). All sections of the aforementionedapplications and patents are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND

By way of a simplified overview, this disclosure is directed to a methodfor segmenting and transmitting on-demand real-time video clips fromlive events to cellular telephones or personal computers. Live-actionevents, such as professional sporting events, are typically filmed usingmultiple cameras positioned around a stadium. Each camera produces avideo feed that is then subsequently edited into a single feed that isthen broadcast on television by a television network or a televisionstation. The desire exists among viewers and fans of live televisedevents, such as a baseball game, to watch highlights of the game shortlyafter those highlights actually occur in the game. Highlights typicallycomprise important moments in the live-action event or the game that aviewer wishes to see again. Typically, however, viewers must rely uponthe televised broadcast, as it is edited by the television network orstation, to display certain highlights, such as instant-replays. Viewerstypically cannot request and view highlights on-demand at substantiallythe same time, or within seconds or minutes of those highlightsoccurring in the game. Viewers also cannot typically pre-select thetypes of highlights—or instant replays—they wish to see. Nor can viewerstypically request to view a highlight from a specific camera angle,including a camera angle that recorded the highlight but was not used totelevise that moment in the edited video-feed broadcast by the networkor station. Rather, viewers must rely upon the television network orstation to display the highlights that it presumes the viewers wish tosee and only from the camera angles used in the edited and televisedbroadcast video feed. Nor can viewers of a live-action televised eventtypically request that the highlights they wish to see, from the cameraangle they wish to see it, be transmitted to their cellular telephone ortheir personal computer shortly after it occurs in the game.

For viewers to be able to request to see any highlight they wish, fromthe camera angle they prefer, would presumptively require manualoperators monitor the video feeds of live-action events. The manualoperators would locate all possible highlights that viewers might wishto see. This would include highlights that the television network orstation would not intend to broadcast. Upon locating what might be ahighlight—such as a baseball batter swinging and missing for a thirdstrike—the manual operator would physically edit the clip so that enoughtime occurs before the batter swings and after the batter swings toframe the clip so that the highlight would be meaningful to the viewer.In other words, the manual operator would have to determine how muchtime to place before the batter swings, as well as how much time toplace after the batter swings, so that a viewer watching the clipappreciates the clip. In addition, the manual operators would have tomonitor every camera angle, including the edited video feed comprising anumber of camera angles that is actually broadcast to televisionviewers. For each camera feed, the manual operator would have tophysically edit and produce a short video-clip of the highlight.Producing video-clips that contain highlights using the foregoing mannerwould impose considerable costs and resources on television networks andtelevision stations or any other video management system. The costs andresources that need to be expended to manually produce a plurality ofvideo-clips would typically be economically impractical and unfeasible.

SUMMARY

The foregoing problems are addressed by a method and system forproducing video-segments of a live-action event involving monitoring alive-action event for detection of an important events orevent-segments, detecting one or more event-triggers with detectors,determining if an important event or event-segment occurred based on thedetected event-triggers, and editing one or more video feeds into avideo-segment to encompass the event-segment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating the steps followed in performingtransmitting on-demand real-time video segments of live action events.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a system fortransmitting on-demand real-time video segments of live action events.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the steps followed in performingvideo-segmentation.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of one-embodiment of frame-by-frame patternrecognition that is used in conjunction with one-embodiment of thedisclosed method of video-segmentation.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating one-embodiment of the disclosedmethod of video-segmentation.

FIG. 6 is a snapshot of one embodiment of a menu displaying availablevideo-segments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Turning to the drawings, FIG. 1 is an illustration of the method ofsegmenting and transmitting on-demand live-action video in real-time.Initially, there is an event that is being filmed and broadcast live.For example, a live action event can include, without limitation, andwithout intending to limit the scope of the claims, a sporting event,such as a baseball game, a football game, a soccer game, a hockey game,or a car race, such as a NASCAR race. In alternative embodiments, thelive event can also be a non-sporting event, such as a music concert, atheater performance, and so forth. In alternate embodiments, the liveevent can be interviews after a professional sporting match, include,without limitation, in a locker room, in the hallway outside of a tennisstadium, or in some other location. In alternate embodiments, the liveevent can be a rollercoaster at an amusement park, where a video feedcaptures park patrons as they roll down the steepest descent, and afterexiting the roller coaster, a video-clip is transmitted to theircellular telephones. In alternate embodiments, the live event can beevents back stage at a musical concert, a theater performance, or anyother event for which there is a live video feed. In alternateembodiments, the live event can encompass a video feed capturing the pitcrew tune-up a car in a NASCAR or Formula One race. In still alternateembodiments, the live event can encompass any live-action event capturedby a live video feed.

Live sporting events are typically filmed and broadcast to viewers froma number of different angles. One or more cameras record live videocontent. The cameras are placed at different locations around the arenaor stadium that is hosting the event. Each of the cameras continuouslyrecords the event from its respective location, and accordingly, thecameras each record the event simultaneously. To broadcast the event toviewers, a video feed from each of the cameras is typically compiled andedited to form a single edited video-feed that switches back and forthbetween a plurality of camera angles. For example, a televised broadcastof a live baseball game will continuously switch between a number ofdifferent camera angles while televising the broadcast in real-time.

Turning back to FIG. 1, in STEP 101, one or more video-feeds is receivedinto a computer processor or a server. Each video-feed comprises videocontent that captured the live-action event. In one embodiment, eachvideo-feed is a single video-feed. In alternative embodiments, one ormore of the received one or more video-feeds is an already editedcompilation of a plurality of camera angles, such as the edited videofeed that viewers of a televised baseball game will typically watch ontheir television. In alternate embodiments, a plurality of single orpre-edited video feeds capturing video content of the same event arereceived. In alternate embodiments, a plurality of computer processorsor servers receives the plurality of one or more video feeds of thelive-action event.

In one embodiment, one or more of the video-feeds is receivedsimultaneously with the live-action event. In alternate embodiments, oneor more of the video-feeds is received at substantially the same time asthe live-action event. In alternate embodiments, one or more of thevideo-feeds contains a delay, wherein it is not exactly synchronizedwith the live-action event.

In an alternate embodiment the video-feed, whether a single video-feedor a plurality of video-feeds, whether edited or not edited, arereceived into a PlayItOver ORB Box (hereinafter, “Orb Box”). The Orb Boxcomprises a server dedicated to providing one or more services relatedto the method described herein. In one embodiment, the Orb Box runs aLinux operating system. In alternate embodiments, alternate operatingsystems are used to run the Orb Box, including, without limitation,serves operating systems provided by FreeBSD, Apple, Solaris and/orMicrosoft.

In STEP 102, after the computer processor, server or Orb Box receivesthe plurality of one or more video feeds containing pre-edited orunedited video content of the live-action event, then the processor orthe Orb Box pre-encodes the video content. The computer processorcomprises memory for storing the video-feeds. Typically, the video feedsreceived by the computer processor, server or the Orb Box are highdefinition and/or comprise high frame rates. Accordingly, in oneembodiment, pre-encoding is performed on the input video feeds.Pre-encoding comprises, without limitation, scaling down and/orcompressing the high-definition and/or high-frame rate video feeds tofacilitate the method of video segmentation, as described in more detailbelow, via a more economical expense of computer resources. One goal ofpre-encoding is to conserve available storage space and bufferingcapacity. In an alternate embodiment, pre-encoding, including, withoutlimitation, scaling down and/or compressing a high-definition and/orhigh-frame rate video feed, is not performed. Whether or not to performpre-encoding will generally be determined as a design-decision of theuser with respect to the most economical use of available computingprocessing power, resources, and storage capacities.

In STEP 103, the received video feeds are stored. Means for storing thereceived video feeds containing video content of the live-action event,whether pre-encoded or not pre-encoded, are well-known in the art.

In STEP 104, the video feeds received by the computer processor, serveror the Orb Box from the broadcaster's cameras are transmitted inreal-time to another computer processor, server or cluster, such as theODRT Grid Cluster (hereinafter, collectively, the “Cluster”). In oneembodiment, the Cluster comprises two or more linked computers connectedthrough a local-area-network. In an alternate embodiment, the Clustercomprises two or more linked computers connected through a public,private or internet network. In an alternate embodiment, the Clusteruses distributed and/or grid computing run through one or morecomputers. In an alternate embodiment, the Cluster comprises two or moreprocessors connected by a local high-speed computer bus. In stillalternate embodiments, the Cluster comprises additional means well-knownin the art for forming a computer cluster. In still another embodiment,the received video-feeds by a server are not transmitted to the Cluster,but a design-preference of the user dictates that certain steps of thepresent disclosure are performed at the same processor, server and/orCluster, based upon available processing resources and storage capacity.

In STEP 105, the Cluster performs video segmentation of the live videocontent. Video-segmentation will be described in more detail below withreference to FIG. 2. The result is a video-segment, or a video-clipcontaining an event-segment, or an important event, or a highlight fromthe live action event, along with attendant metadata that describes thehighlight.

In STEP 106, a segmented video clip, or a video-segment, with attendantmetadata, is transcoded. In one embodiment, digital data representingthe video and audio content of the segmented clip (or video-segment),and its attendant metadata, is transcoded, or modified from a digitalvideo stream having one set of characteristics to a digital video streamhaving an alternate set of characteristics. As is generally known in theart, different sets of characteristics pertain to different protocols(e.g. compression protocols, including, without limitation, MPEG andMPEG2) and data rates. A segmented video clip (video-segment) istranscoded into a number of pre-selected and/or predetermined encodingschemes. An encoding scheme comprises the specific protocols forcompressing, forward error-correcting, modulating and/or transmittingdigital or analog data. Pre-selected encoding schemes are initiallydesignated to conform to the operating system and formats used by theplurality of cellular telephone network carriers and devices, as well aspersonal computers receiving video content over the internet.Transcoding is described in more detail below.

In STEP 107, a registered device is appraised with respect to aplurality of characteristics. Registered-device appraisal determines theoptimal parameters (i.e., encoding scheme) for which to transmit thesegmented video-clip to the requesting device. Registered-deviceappraisal of a requesting user's device is described in more detailbelow. In STEP 108, pursuant to the determined appraisal of registereddevices, menus containing a selection of video-segments that areavailable for display are transmitted to a device. This step isdescribed in more detail below with reference to FIG. 5. In STEP 109,requests to view a specific video-segment are received. In STEP 110, therequested segmented video-clip (video-segment) is transmitted to therequesting device.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that in alternateembodiments, the steps of pre-encoding, storing, transcoding,transmitting to an alternate processor or server for video-segmenting,as well as other steps disclosed herein with respect to FIG. 1 are notrequired to follow a chronological order that mirrors the order of thesteps as disclosed herein, as set forth in FIG. 1, nor as the relevantsteps and elements are set forth in the claims. Design-decisionspursuant to the user's preferences with respect to processingcapabilities and storage capacity can be made to perform pre-encoding,transcoding, video-segmenting, storage and additional elements and stepsin a chronological order that differs from the order of the elements andsteps set forth above, in. FIG. 1, or in the claims. It will also beappreciated by those skilled in the art that in another alternateembodiment, multiple steps, including, without limitation, the stepsdisclosed herein with reference to FIG. 1, can occur simultaneouslypursuant the user's available processing capabilities.

Turning to FIG. 2, this is an illustrative embodiment of an embodimentof the system corresponding to the method disclosed with reference toFIG. 1. Initially, there is a live-action event 1 that occurs inside ofa stadium or arena. In this particular embodiment, which comprises anexample, and is not intended to limit the scope of the claims,live-action event 1 comprises a football game. Multiple cameras 2,including live-video angle 2 a, 2 b and 2 c, are positioned around thestadium hosting the live-action event 1. Video feeds from each camera, 2a, 2 b, and 2 c, are received via lines 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 to thePlayItOver Orb Box 3. In alternate embodiments, lines 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3are not required to be individual serial direct connections input intothe Orb Box, but can encompass parallel and/or multiplexed connectionsor additional types of connections of one or more video feeds into theOrb Box, as is generally known by those skilled in the art. The Orb Box3 pre-encodes each of the received video-feeds, scaling them down fromhigh-definition, high-frame rates, and then stores the pre-encodedvideo-feeds. The ODRT Cluster 4 receives the pre-encoded video-feeds andperforms video-segmentations, which is described in more detail below,to determine when to trim each video-feed so that it includes a gamehighlight, or another event determined to be segmented into a videoclip. Metadata 5 is added to the trimmed video-clip (or video-segment),and it is then transmitted to a plurality of registered requestingend-user devices, which can include iPhones 7 a, cellular telephones 7 bor personal computers 7 c.

Video Segmentation

The method of video-segmentation will now be described in more detail.FIG. 3 illustrates the steps of a method directed to segmenting the livevideo feeds into individual clips. By way of a brief descriptiveoverview, first it is determined if the event-state is on or off, and ifit is on, the received video feeds are recorded. Typically, if abaseball game is experiencing a commercial break, the event-state willbe determined to be off, and the video-feeds will not be recorded. Whenthe event-state is on (for instance, when the baseball game is in play)then different types of detectors monitor both the live video feedand/or the live physical action occurring at the live-action event fordetections of events that might be something viewers would prefer to seeagain, hereinafter referred to as “event-triggers”. Event-triggerscomprise detections that exceed or are beyond a predetermined thresholdor value that indicates that something important, or worth watching, ishappening in the live-action event. Detected event-triggers may beindicative of an event that requires video-segmentation because it issomething viewers would prefer to see again. By way of an example, andwithout intending to limit the claims, typically, baseball fans areinterested in viewing a batter swinging and hitting a homerun. On theother hand, typically, fans are less interested in viewing a batterswinging a bat before stepping up to the plate. Detectors monitor thevideo feed and/or the live-action event for event-triggers that areindicative of the batter hitting a homerun rather than swinging a batbefore stepping up to a plate. In this example, hitting a home run wouldcomprise an important event, or an “event-segment”, whereas simplyswinging the bat before stepping up to the plate would not. Both swingsof the bat, however, would comprise “event-triggers.” Event-segments areevents that are determined to be segmented into a video-segment. By wayof an example, and without intending to limit the scope of the claims, aradar gun monitors increased changes in bat velocity, and thus, a batswinging constitutes an event-trigger. A bat swinging might beindicative of an event-segment, i.e., a homerun, or it might not beindicative of an event-segment, i.e., a batter warming up by swingingthe bat before stepping up to the plate. By way of additional examples,and without intending to limit the scope of the claims, event-segmentscan comprise: the last 30 seconds of a video shot from the goal in ahockey game, or in the alternative, from the goalie's helmet; a shortvideo of a user on a rollercoaster at the point of the steepest descent;sports locker-room interviews; an interview backstage at a musicalconcert; cheerleaders doing flips; the last-lap video from inside a carin a car race; and so forth.

One or more event-triggers are therefore used to determine if they areindicative of an event-segment. If so, the time of the event-segment—inthe foregoing example, the batter hitting a homerun—is recorded, and therecorded video-feed is trimmed to begin and end so that the trimmedvideo-clip includes the event-segment. Additional metadata is added tothe trimmed video-clip that describes information about thevideo-segment, such as, in this example, the player's name and that hehit a homerun. The result is the trimmed video-clip recorded from thelive video feed that contains the event-segment, as determined by theplurality of one or more event-triggers. As indicated above, the trimmedvideo-clip with the added metadata will be referred to as a“video-segment”.

A brief overview of FIG. 3 is as follows: In STEP 301, the live-actionevent or the plurality of one or more video-feeds or both are monitoredto determine the event-state. If the event-state is determined to be“on”, rather than “off”, then in STEP 302, recording of the live-actionvideo feed is performed. In STEP 303, the live-action event or therecorded video feed is monitored for event-triggers. In STEP 304, upondetection of one or more event-triggers, the time of the event-triggersis recorded, and those event-triggers are used to determine whether anevent-segment has occurred. If it is determined that an event-segmenthas occurred, in STEP 305, it is determined when the recorded video isto be clipped to begin at a specific time and to end at a specific time.In STEP 306, the recorded video is clipped according to thedeterminations in STEP 305. In STEP 307, metadata is added to thetrimmed video-clip, and the resultant product is a video-segment.

At this point, in one embodiment, the process continues to monitor thelive-action event for event-triggers that are indicative of additionalevent-segments that can be clipped into video-segments. By way of anexample, and without intending to limit the scope of the claims, in abaseball game, if a pitch resulting in a foul ball is clipped into avideo-segment, then the process continues to monitor the live-actionevent or the video-feed for the next event-segment, which in thisexample, will most likely constitute the next pitch. In one embodiment,the process returns to STEP 301 to determine if the event-state is “on”or “off” or an analogous user-defined determination with respect to theevent-state. In an alternate embodiment, the process returns to STEP303, where the live-action event or the recorded video feed is monitoredfor event-triggers, indicative of another event-segment that can besegmented into a video-segment. In alternate embodiments, after eachvideo-segment is clipped, the process returns to STEP 303 whilesimultaneously monitoring the event-state, and in the event that theevent-state is determined to be “off”, then following segmentation of avideo-segment, recording of the video-feed stops and the process doesreturn to STEP 303 only at a subsequent time when the event-state isagain determined to be “on”.

In STEP 301, the video feed is monitored to determine the event-state.An event-state indicates whether a live-action event is activelyproceeding or whether an intermission is occurring. Live-action events,such as sporting events, typically oscillate between being active ornon-active is some relative form. For instance, if a musical concert isbeing televised live, then a commercial break or a televisedintermission does not correlate to an event that a user would likelywish to see again. Similarly, users may also not wish to clip into anevent-segment the duration of a time-out during football game orbasketball game. Similarly, a commercial break during a baseball gamedoes not likely contain any event-triggers.

Users determine as a design choice what does and does not constitute anevent-state. This design-choice will be based upon the respectivelive-action event or sporting event for which video segmentation isbeing used. In some instances, the entire event constitutes a single,unchanging event-state, such as “on”. By way of an example, and withoutintending to limit the scope of the claims, the first set of a livetelevised musical concert that runs uninterrupted may constitute asingle event-state. Thus, in this example, recording of the entire firstact would continue uninterrupted, and as will be described in greaterdetail below, pursuant to a user's preferences, the concert is monitoredfor event-triggers indicative of event-segments. Event-segments mayconstitute individual songs, and the recorded video-feed is clipped intovideo-segments that each encompass an individual song played during theset of the concert before intermission. At intermission, the event-stateis determined to be “off”, and recording is halted until the event-stateis once again determined to be “on”, i.e., the band has returned to thestage. Users therefore determine as a design-choice those event-stateslikely to contain event-triggers and those unlikely to containevent-triggers.

In one embodiment, to determine an event state, the clock is monitored.For many sporting events, a clock controls when a sporting event is “inplay” and the remaining time before the respective game, quarter,period, half and so forth expires. Typically, the clock will be stoppedduring play for a time-out, for a commercial break, or for some otherreason. By way of an example, and without intending to limit the scopeof the claims, when the first quarter in a basketball game ends, theclock expires, after which there is no play. This expiration of theclock is detected to distinguish between an event-state that is “inplay” and one that is “not-inplay”, or equivalent designations thatindicate whether or not to advance to STEP 302. By way of anotherexample, and without intending to limit the scope of the claims, if theclock starts in a football game following a time-out, that will indicatethe game is once again “in play”. In alternate embodiments, theevent-state is not determined with reference to a clock, but withreference to another indication of whether or not the game is “in play”or not. By way of an example, and without intending to limit the scopeof the claims. If the scoreboard in a baseball game indicates that it isthe top of the first inning, then the game is “in play”, but if thescoreboard indicates that no inning is being played or that the “7thinning stretch” is underway, then presumptively, the game is “not inplay”. In an alternate embodiment, the event-state is not determined.Rather, this step is skipped and the procedure advances immediately toSTEP 302, where recording of the live video feed continues withoutbreak. Whether or not to deploy a step of determining an event-state isa design choice that will typically be based around conservation ofprocessing and storage resources.

STEP 301 thus comprises constantly monitoring of the live-action eventor the video feed to determine when the event-state is on, at whichpoint the procedure advances to STEP 302. When the event-state is off,the procedure continues to monitor the event-state until it is “on”again. It will be understood by those in the art that the designations“on” and “off” are by way of an example, and not intended to limit thescope of the claims, and to the extent the user determines as a designchoice what does and does not constitute an event-state, thedesignations chosen to distinguish between two event-states is also atthe design-discretion of the user. In STEP 302, presuming theevent-state is “on”, or something analogous, then the received livevideo feeds are recorded.

In STEP 303, the live video feeds, the live-action event, or both aremonitored to detect event-triggers using the following means fordetecting event-triggers. In general, sensors and detectors monitor thevideo feeds and/or the live-action event pursuant to means described inmore detail below. The detectors monitor for measurements or detectionsof values that exceed a predetermined threshold. A detected measurementthat exceeds a predetermined threshold is assigned a value to the extentthe specific event-trigger (measured value) exceeds the predeterminedthreshold. This value corresponds to a weight. In one embodiment, themore the detected value exceeds the predetermined threshold, the higheror greater the value assigned, and the higher or greater thecorresponding weight. This weighted value is subsequently used alongwith additional weighted values, which correspond to additional eventtriggers using the same or additional detectors, to determine if andwhen an event-segment occurs. In one embodiment, the weight assigned toeach of a plurality of values derived from additional detectorsdetecting event triggers indicates the degree of relative priority togive to each specific value when determining whether, in the aggregate,the plurality of detected event triggers indicate that an event-segmenthas occurred. By way of an example, and without intending to limit thescope of the claims, in a baseball game, the ball is monitored with aradar gun. If a pitch is detected to be 45 M.P.H., then it is too slowto be an actual pitch, and it is presumptively just the catcher throwingthe ball back to the pitcher. Its speed will not exceed a predeterminedvalue, and an event-trigger has not occurred. On the other hand, if apitch exceeds a predetermined value of 80 M.P.H., then an event-triggeroccurs, because at that speed, it is presumed that the pitcher threw anactual pitch. If the pitch is 100 M.P.H., then it far exceeds thethreshold value for event-triggers, and it is likely a fast ball thatmore likely corresponds to an event-segment because the batter is likelyto swing and miss.

Frame by Frame Pattern Recognition

Frame by frame pattern recognition monitors video feeds for motionchanges in the live action captured by the video feed. Frame by framepattern recognition for pre-encoded and non-pre-encoded video content iswell-known in the art.

In one embodiment, successive frames of a video feed are compared, andpixel color changes are detected. The number of instances of pixel colorchanges are monitored to determine if the number of pixel color changesexceeds a predetermined threshold. In an alternate embodiment, onlythose individual pixel color changes that exceed a difference in colorintensity above a predetermined value are counted among the pixel colorchanges used to determine whether in the aggregate, the total number ofpixel color changes exceeded a predetermined threshold. In an alternateembodiment, rather than monitoring successive frames, every second,third and so forth number of frames are compared. In an alternateembodiment, the distribution of pixel color changes is monitored. By wayof an example, and without intending to limit the scope of the claims,the distribution of a single pixel color is monitored for changes abovea predetermined threshold by converting the distribution of the singlecolor (such as all green pixels) into a frequency distribution andmonitoring changes in the frequency distribution, where frequencypertains to the frequency with which the color green appears within eachframe. In alternate embodiments, frequency distributions of multiplecolors or patterns of colors are monitored.

In an alternate embodiment, the number of pixel color changes that aremonitored are localized within a selected portion of the image capturedby the video feed. Thus, by way of example, and without intending tolimit the scope of the claims, a video feed capturing a football game ismonitored for the number of pixel color changes along the line ofscrimmage. Typically, televised football games, including network feeds,impose a computerized blue line upon the televised image of the footballgame to indicate for the television viewer where the line of scrimmageexists on the football field for a specific play. In one embodiment, theline of scrimmage is located by detecting a high concentration of bluepixels in a specific area or region of the frame. Alternatively, in theevent the super-imposed computerized line of scrimmage is a color otherthan blue, the video feed detects high concentrations of that color tolocate the line of scrimmage. Video feed frames are then monitoredwithin a predetermined localized area within the vicinity of thesuperimposed computerized line of scrimmage. Because movement indicatingthat a football play has begun typically involves players on both sidesof the line of scrimmage crossing that line, it is sufficient to monitoronly a localized area within the proximity of the line of scrimmage forpixel color changes to detect event-triggers.

By way of an example, and without intending to limit the scope of theclaims, FIG. 4 is an illustration of a frame from a video-feed thatcaptures a pitcher in a baseball game delivering a pitch. For eachsuccessive frame in the video-feed that captures the pitcher deliveringthe pitch, including the frame depicted in FIG. 4, the pitcher islocalized within the frame, and basic geometrical shapes and/or patternsare mapped onto the pitcher's body and limbs to encompass each of thepitcher's limbs. In one example, where the pitcher is wearing a whiteuniform, high concentrations of the color white are located andgeometrical boxes are used to encompass those high concentrations. It isa design-decision for the user to determine the degree to which thegeometrical shapes encompass the pitcher's limbs without simultaneouslyencompassing portions of the frame that do not capture the pitcher'slimbs, i.e., the green grass. For successive frames, geometrical shapesare therefore mapped onto the pitcher's body. In alternate embodiments,rather than each successive frame mapping geometrical shapes onto thepitcher's body, every second, third and so forth number of frames aremapped with geometrical shapes encompassing the pitcher's body and thepitcher's limbs. Accordingly, as the pitcher makes his way through hiswind up in his effort to eventually deliver the pitch, the aggregategeometrical shapes mapped onto the pitcher's body limbs will produce aconfiguration for each successive frame that is different. In otherwords, if each of the pitcher's limbs and his torso are mapped with arectangular shape imposed upon the frame, the resulting configuration ofrectangles will be different for each frame as the pitcher contorts hisbody differently to successively work his way through his windup. Thus,the pattern of geometrical shapes configured for each frame thatencompasses each successive stage of the pitcher's wind-up and deliverychanges between successive frames. Those patterns of geometrical shapesare monitored. When that pattern corresponds to a predetermined pattern,then an event trigger is registered. In this example, referring again toFIG. 4, the pattern of geometrical shapes encompassing the pitcher'sbody that results when his leg goes up into the air is theevent-trigger. Successive frames are therefore monitored for thispattern, or an approximation of this pattern. Upon detection of thispattern, or an approximation of this pattern, an event-trigger isregistered. As is clear from FIG. 4, the raised leg of the pitcher, andthe resultant geometrical pattern that results, is most likely anindication that the pitcher is throwing a pitch. It is a design-decisionfor the user to determine, with respect to the geometrical pattern thatconstitutes the event-trigger, the degree and extent to whichapproximations of that pattern also constitute an event-trigger. Inalternate embodiments, the geometrical shapes used to map onto apitcher's or another player's body or limbs is not limited torectangles, but also includes, without limitation, other shapesreasonably contemplated to efficiently encompass the person or objectthat is monitored for changes. These other geometrical shapes includecircles, boxes, non-four-sided shapes, hexagons, and so forth. In analternate example, and without intending to limit the scope of theclaims, in a golf game, a pattern of geometrical shapes mapped onto agolf player hitting a golf ball is predetermined to constitute a certainposition in a golf player's swing that constitutes an event-trigger. Asan example, the pattern constituting an event trigger could be one thatcorresponds to rectangles mapped onto a golf player's body when he orshe is at the back of his or her swing, and the golf club has beenbrought up over the shoulders and the line of the club is momentarilyparallel with the ground. As an alternate example, for a music concert,a rock musician is notorious for holding a guitar and jumping up in theair with his legs spread in a signature style. Geometrical shapes aremapped onto successive frames of the video-feeds capturing the rockmusician during the concert. The patterns of those geometrical shapesare monitored until they correspond to the predetermined pattern, or anapproximation thereof, of geometrical shapes that correspond to the rockmusician jumping in the air with a guitar and his legs spread in hissignature way.

By way of an alternate example, and once again, without intending tolimit the scope of the claims, a video feed capturing a baseball game ismonitored for the number of changes within the strike zone only.Typically, a pitcher delivering a pitch will throw the baseball withinthe vicinity of the strike zone, which comprises an area in front ofboth the batter and the catcher. In this example, the strike zone isdetected based upon a pixel-color distribution that correlates withpredetermined pixel-color frequency distributions that indicate it. Forexample, the strike zone is monitored for pixel color changes exceedinga predetermined threshold.

By way of an alternate example, and once again, without intending tolimit the scope of the claims, a video feed capturing a race-car race,such as a NASCAR race, is monitored for pixel color changes indicatingtwo or more cars have moved relative to each other on the racetrack.Typically, a video feed capturing a car race follows one or more carsadvancing around the track, and by following the cars, the cars remainrelatively fixed on the screen relative to the sides of the video image,or the frame, for at least a portion of time. Detecting certainconcentrations of pixel colors enables a car to be located in a videofeed. Similarly, certain concentrations of pixel colors enables thephysical track, the protection wall, and the center area of the track tobe located as well. Accordingly, if a video feed is following two carsmoving down a straightaway on the track, the two cars are located, thetrack between the two cars is located, and a value is assigned to thenumber of pixels comprising the track located between the two cars. Thisvalue is monitored to determine whether it falls below a predeterminedthreshold within a specific number of frames. If so, this is likely toindicate that one car is advancing quickly upon the other car. To thatextent, an additional value is determined that is weighted relative tohow quickly the value indicating the space of track between the two carschanges relative to the number of frames. As described in more detailbelow, this weighted value is used, along with additional weightedvalues to determine if an event-segment has occurred. In this example,an event-segment would be one car passing another car on thestraightaway.

By way of an alternate example, and once again, without intending tolimit the scope of the claims, a video feed capturing a soccer game ismonitored for pixel color changes for a given color, or a finitespectrum indicating a given color, which indicates rapid, swift andsudden movement of the video camera capturing the video feed. In oneembodiment, frames are compared and a frequency distribution of pixelcolors is determined across the entire frame. The frequency distributionis monitored for changes exceeding a predetermined threshold.Alternatively, a predetermined spectrum that indicates the color green,or whatever color may be the color of the field is used. If a frame orcollection of successive frames indicates a high frequency distributionof green pixels for a given period of frames, then this presumptivelyindicates that the players are passing the ball around mid-field, orsomething uneventful. The frequency distribution of green pixels changesslightly as the ball progresses down the field, but not necessarilydramatically. Sometimes, when a player kicks the soccer ball at thegoal, the camera follows the ball towards the goal. Doing so, video feedimage captures the goal, the area behind the goal, and spectators in thestands. The resulting image will most likely not contain a highfrequency distribution of the color green. The frequency distributionfor green will therefore drop dramatically (below a predeterminedthreshold) within a predetermined period of frames. The extent to whichthis frequency distribution drops below a predetermined threshold withina predetermined frame period is assigned a value, which will correspondto a weighted parameter input. Along with additional weightedparameters, to be described in more detail below, it will be used todetermine if an event-segment (i.e., in this example, a shot on goal)has occurred.

By way of an alternate embodiment, frame-by-frame pattern recognitiontechniques well-known by those skilled in the art that perform facerecognition is used to detect event-triggers. For instance, withoutintending to limit the scope of the claims, if a golfer appears on thevideo-feed, and the golfer does not wear a number, a uniform or anyother article of clothing that identifies him or her with a respectiveteam or other organization, frame-by-frame pattern recognition usingface recognition techniques can identify the golf player. Facerecognition techniques and algorithms are well-known in the art. Inalternate embodiments, frame-by-frame pattern recognition techniquesusing well-known OCR algorithms detect predetermined information withina video-feed frame. By way of an example, and without intending to limitthe scope of the claims, an OCR algorithm detects the number worn by aspecific player. That number can be algorithmically compared to apredetermined database of numbers that each correspond to a specificplayer, and along with additional event-triggers and information, adetermination is functionally made with respect to the name of theplayer that is captured in video-feed. In alternate embodiments,video-filtering algorithms well-known by those skilled in the art can beapplied to the video-feed to exacerbate, amplify or de-emphasizepre-selected color and/or pixel color distribution gradients within thevideo-feed frame, thereby facilitating the implementation ofvideo-filtering and textual-filtering algorithms, such as an OCRprogram, to search for and find numbers, textual data, face detectionprograms to detect faces and other algorithms to detect otherinformation within a frame that corresponds to event-triggers oradditional information to determine if, when and what event-segmentoccurred. In this way, multiple, different event-triggers can bedetected using a number of different detectors from within a successionof frames that do not segue between scenes, camera angles or fades toblack.

Physical Sensors

Physical sensors located at the premises hosting the live-action eventcaptured by the video feed monitor changes in the live action eventwithout recourse to the video feed itself. In one embodiment, physicalsensors located at the live-action event monitor changes that exceed apredetermined threshold. A value is assigned to the extent to whichthose changes exceed the predetermined threshold, and that valuecorresponds to a weighted parameter input, which, along with additionalparameters, as herein described, is used to determine if anevent-segment has occurred.

By way of an example, and without intending to limit the scope of theclaims, radar guns monitor the speed of pitches to detect those thatexceed a predetermined threshold. By way of another example, and withoutintending to limit the scope of the claims, a radar detector detectsmovement—namely a running batter—between third-base and home base, whichpresumptively indicates that an important play is happening. By way ofanother example, and without intending to limit claims scope, a radardetector monitors cars exceeding a predetermined speed in a race,presumptively indicating that one car may be attempting to pass anothercar or one car may be making some other sort of strategic move along theracetrack that will be an event-segment. In an alternate embodiment,Global Navigation Satellite Systems, including GPS, are used, to detectthe time, location and velocity of participants in a live-action event.By way of an example, and without intending to limit the scope of theclaims, race-cars equipped with GPS monitor each car's position forwhether it is approaching the finish line or whether one racecar isswiftly approaching another racecar. By way of an alternate example, andwithout intending to limit the scope of the claims, marathon or otherlong-distance runners are equipped with RFID tags within their shoesthat absorb specific electromagnetic fields and/or frequencies that tripdetectors for detection that a runner is at a specific location at aspecific time. In alternate embodiments, motion-detection andvelocity-detection mechanisms well-known in the art are used to detectevent-triggers. Except where otherwise stated, the claims are notintended to be limited to physical sensors in the form of radardetectors or other types of detectors that use microwaves, radio wavesor any other type of electromagnetic waves or sound waves deployed inany form to detect and measure range, altitude, direction, and/or speedof people, players or objects in a live-action event or sporting event.

In alternate embodiments, the video-feed is monitored for detections byphysical sensors that are inherent to the game or live-event that isbeing filmed. By way of an example, and without intending to limit thescope of the claims, in a football game, the possession arrow ismonitored to indicate changes in possession. Upon detecting that thepossession arrow has changed, an event-trigger is registered because itis most likely that an event-segment, such as a fumble or aninterception, has occurred.

Audio Recognition

Audio and speech recognition monitors the audio component of video feedsfor changes in the live audio captured by the video feed. Audio andspeech recognition for pre-encoded and non-pre-encoded audio content iswell-known in the art. By way of an example, and without intending tolimit the scope of the claims, a video feed capturing a soccer game ismonitored for significant changes in the announcer's voice. Typically, avideo feed capturing a soccer game contains an audio feed thatprincipally comprises an announcer commenting upon the live-action ofthe soccer match. Often, an announcer will raise his or her voice in theevent that a goal is scored. In this embodiment, changes in decibellevels above a predetermined threshold are monitored. Other times, it isnot uncommon for an announcer to shout the word “Goal!”, or whateverword that signifies a goal in the language spoken by the announcer, foran extended period of time, sometimes on the order of 15 to 30 seconds,or more. Therefore, in an alternate embodiment, independently or inaddition to monitoring the decibel level of the audio feed, the periodof time that the decibel level of the audio feed exceeds a predeterminedthreshold is monitored. In an alternate embodiment, the time that theaudio feed remains within a predetermined vicinity of any decibel levelis monitored. To the extent this time exceeds a predetermined thresholdtime, it can presumptively indicate that the announcer is shouting“GOAL!”, and that an event-segment may have occurred. In thisembodiment, therefore, time, rather than a decibel level, is monitored.As mentioned, alternative embodiments measure both time and decibellevels with predetermined weightings relative to each other to assign avalue to the extent to which any or all of the measured values exceedsthe predetermined thresholds. In an alternate embodiment, the decibellevel of the crowd at the stadium or arena where a live-action sportingevent is occurring is monitored for changes above a predeterminedthreshold to indicate that an event-segment may have occurred becauseeverybody is suddenly cheering.

In an alternate embodiment, independent or in addition to other audiomonitoring technologies, speech recognition software well known to oneskilled in the art may be employed to convert broadcast speech to text;this method may be deployed for multiple languages (i.e., English,Spanish, Italian) depending on the origin of the broadcast content. Inone embodiment, speech to text capability enables recognition ofspecific trigger words related to what may have occurred during thepossible event-segment with different sets of trigger wordscorresponding to different sports. By way of an example, and withoutintending to limit the scope of the claims, recognition of the specifictrigger word “homerun” for a baseball game when spoken by an announcercan be used as an event-trigger to possibly indicate that a batter hasjust hit a homerun. In another embodiment, speech to text capabilityenables recognition of specific trigger words related to who may havebeen involved during the possible event-segment. By way of an example,and without intending to limit the scope of the claims, recognition ofthe specific trigger words “Derek Jeter” when spoken by an announcer canbe used as an event-trigger to possibly indicate that Derek Jeter wasinvolved in the recent occurrence in the live-action event, such as ahomerun. In another embodiment, speech to text capability enablesrecognition of specific trigger words related to certain statistics asan event-trigger to possibly indicate an event-segment. By way of anexample, and without intending to limit the scope of the claims,recognition of specific trigger words “70th homerun” and “this season”when spoken by an announcer within a predetermined range of time can beused as an event-trigger to possibly indicate that a batter has just hithis 70th homerun for the season. In another embodiment, recognition ofspeech related to certain textual scenarios can be pre-designated to beassigned greater weighting values for the purpose of algorithmicallydetermining if an event-segment has occurred. For example, because fewif any baseball players have ever hit 70 homeruns within a singleseason, and users are therefore most likely interested in viewing avideo-segment involving a player that has performed this feat, thenspeech recognition that corresponds to a certain textual scenario,arrangement or group of one or more words that would correspond to thisfeat, can be assigned comparatively high weighting value. In anotherembodiment, one or more of the foregoing speech to text event-triggers,including, without limitation, what happened, who did it, and statisticsregarding the same, can be used together to more accurately determinewhether an event-segment has occurred.

In another embodiment, additional speech to text event-triggers andnon-speech to text event triggers are used in combination in order toassess the likelihood that certain recognized speech corresponds to thesame event-segment occurring at the time the speech is articulated bythe announcer. By way of an example, and without intending to limit thescope of the claims, during a baseball game, if a player hits aparticularly impressive homerun, it is not unlikely that several minutesafter the homerun occurred, the announcer will still be talking aboutit. For instance, even if a new inning has commenced, the announcer mayremark, “That was a very impressive homerun that Derek Jeter just hit.”In this case, in the absence of additional constraints upon thedisclosed method for determining whether an event-segment occurred,speech to text recognition may indicate that based upon the announcer'sremarks, Derek Jeter hit a homerun at or around the time the of theannouncer's recorded speech. Yet, this will not be the case. For thisreason, event-triggers based upon speech to text recognition can comparethe speech to text event-triggers with additional contemporaneouslydetected event-triggers to determine if the speech can be accuratelypaired with the contemporaneous event-segment. Continuing with theforegoing example, at the recorded time that the announcer remarked,“That was a very impressive homerun that Derek Jeter just hit”,additional event-triggers are detected. First, the external metadatadetects that a different player is at bat and that a team notcorresponding to Derek Jeter's team is at bat. Second, audio detectorsdetect that the decibel level among the crowds is comparatively low.Third, scoring information detectors detect that the number of runsscored by each team has not altered or changed in 15 minutes, and thatthe current batter currently has one strike. Fourth, the event-state wasdetected to have changed from “off” to “on” 45 seconds earlier, whichcould indicate that the broadcast of the game just returned from acommercial break or a between inning break less than 45 seconds earlier.In this embodiment, additional detected event-triggers are used toconfirm or deny the likelihood that the event-segment possibly detectedby speech to text recognition corresponds to the likely event-segmentcorresponding to additional detected event-triggers detectedcontemporaneously with the speech to text recognition event-triggers.Continuing with the foregoing example, in one embodiment,contemporaneously detected event-triggers are entered into apredetermined user-designed profile to correspond to what may actuallybe occurring within a range of time within which several event-triggersare detected. If the foregoing event-triggers, numbered one throughfour, detect the following information, David Ortiz, who plays for theRed Sox, is at bat, with one strike, and the inning began 45 secondsearlier, and the last run scored was 15 minutes earlier, which was basedon a homerun by Derek Jeter, then all or some of this information isentered into a predetermined profile. This information will populate theprofile. For instance, if the profile contains an entry for “currentbatter”, which would correspond to the most likely batter to be at batcontemporaneous with detection of one or more event-triggers within apre-designated range of time, then based on foregoing detected externalmetadata, the entry will be filled with “David Ortiz”. Additionalentries will also be populated respectively with the foregoinginformation. Then, within the same pre-designated range of time, thespeech to text recognition capability detects the announcer's remarks,“That was a very impressive homerun that Derek Jeter just hit,” andbased upon that event-trigger populates the current batter profile with“Derek Jeter”. In that case, a pre-designated user-designed rule, whichindicates that no more than one batter can be detected to be at batduring a given pre-designated time range, will indicate that because twodifferent batters have been designated to be at bat during the same timerange—David Ortiz and Derek Jeter—this discrepancy needs to be resolved.In this case, a further step will determine whether either of these twobatters was recently populated in the “current batter” entry in anotherearlier profile. If it is determined that “Derek Jeter” was populated inthe “current batter” entry in a profile 15 minutes earlier, and it isalso determined that “David Ortiz” was populated in the “current batter”entry in a profile 90 seconds earlier, then each of these time periodssince the last time that each player was populated in a “current batter”entry in a profile will be assigned a weighted value, which in thisexample, will be inversely proportional to the length of time lapsedsince last population, such that David Ortiz will receive a greaterweighted value then Derek Jeter. In another embodiment, if David Ortizand Derek Jeter are each populated in the current batter profile for agiven time range, but comparisons to earlier profiles determine thatDerek Jeter was previously at bat during the game, but David Ortiz hasyet to be at bat, then this information will be weighted accordingly tofavor a final determination that it is actually David Ortiz that iscurrently at bat, and the speech to text recognition that Derek Jeter iscurrently at bat corresponds to an earlier event-segment. Continuingwith this example, additional profile entries with a greater thanallowed number of entries will be resolved by pre-designateduser-designed rules governing comparisons of weighted values generatedwith reference to prior profile entries which can be used to resolvewhether the detected event-triggers corresponding to speech to textdetections are accurately paired with what is happening at the time thespeech to text recognition occurs.

Scoring Information

Scoring information is monitored for event-triggers to detect possiblechanges in the live-action event that may indicate an event-segment hasoccurred. In one embodiment, scoring information is monitored withoutrecourse to the video feed itself. Rather, official scorekeepers for asporting event typically input scoring values into a database that isaccessible. When a scoring value changes, based upon the extent to whichthat change exceeds a predetermined threshold, that change is assigned aweighted value that can be used, in addition with other parameters andother weighted values, to determine if an event-segment occurred. Inaddition, the time of the scoring value change is recorded. The changeto a particular score itself constitutes, in certain instances, anevent-trigger. By way of an example, and without intending to limit thescope of the claims, the official scorekeeper's database indicates thatthe game's score changes from 0-1 to 0-2 at time 3:01 p.m. This islikely because a goal was scored a time within proximity of 3:01 p.m. Inthis way, the video-segment can be clipped with a predetermined numberof seconds both before and after the time 3:01 p.m., and the scoringevent will be captured by the video-segment. By way of another example,and without intending to limit the scope of the claims, if the officialscorekeeper's record indicates that one of the teams recorded an errorat 4:01 p.m., then it is presumptively likely that the video feed withina 10 or 20 second vicinity should be video segmented. By way of analternate example, if the official storekeeper's score indicates that athird strike has been recorded, then a video segment within the vicinityof that strike can be segmented. In this way, score changes, whichdepend on the sport or event being captured by the live-event videofeed, and comprise, without limitation, runs, errors, hits, singles,doubles, triples, homeruns, strikes, balls, walks, fouls, points,touchdowns, field goals, safeties, tackles, interceptions, fumbles,sacks, punts, downs, goals, yellow cards, red cards, turnovers, penaltyshots, baskets, three-point shots, foul shots, time-outs, and so forth.The breadth and variety of scores, figures and events that are recordeddepends on the sport, the league, the type of event, and the foregoingis not intended to limit, in any way, the scope of scores, figures,records and events that are recorded and can act as event triggers. Inan alternate embodiment, rather than accessing the database of anofficial scorekeeper for a given sporting event or other type of event,scores, figures and events acting as event triggers can be unofficialand generated by any means generally known in the art to do so. In analternate embodiment, a single video feed capturing only the score-boardcan be monitored using frame-by-frame pattern recognition, oralternative means to monitor the score, to detect scoring informationchanges.

Scoreboard Information

In addition to scoring information, scoreboard information is monitoredfor event-triggers. Scoreboard information comprises information thatmarks the progression of a live-action event or a sporting event and inaddition to scoring information, scoreboard information typicallyappears on the scoreboard at the live-action event. In one embodiment,scoreboard information comprises time, and it is indicated on clocksthat dictate the beginning, end as well as different stages of a givensporting event. By way of an example, and without intending to limit theclaims, the clock in a basketball game is scoreboard information. In oneembodiment, in a professional NBA basketball game, where each team has24 seconds to shoot the ball before losing possession of the ball, theshot clock—which monitors this 24 second window—is monitored until itfalls below a predetermined value, such as 3 seconds. Because basketballplayers typically scramble to make a play and/or shoot the ball beforethe shot clock expires, an event-segment may presumptively occur between0 and 3 seconds on the shot clock. Similarly, the 45 second shot clockin college basketball is monitored as score-board information to detectif it falls below a pre-determined threshold. By way of another example,and without intending to limit the scope of the claims, the clock in afootball game is monitored to determine when it is within apredetermined time before 2:00 minutes are left within the first or thesecond half. By way of an alternate example, and without intending tolimit the claims, for any live-action event or sporting event thatoccurs within a specified period of time, and for which there is aclock, the clock is monitored until it falls below or within apredetermined time before the event or the game, or a section or portionof the game (i.e., the quarter, half, period, and so forth) expires.Presumptively, the time right before the expiration of a sporting eventis likely to contain event-segments. By way of another example, andwithout intending to limit the claims, starts and stops of the clock aremonitored. In alternative embodiments, non-clock parameters aremonitored for event-triggers that might be indicative of anevent-segment. By way of an example, and without intending to limit theclaims, the beginning or end of an inning in a baseball game ismonitored. In this way, scoreboard information, which includes, withoutlimitation, timing and other related information indicating theprogression of a live-action or sporting event is monitored forevent-triggers. Different scoreboard information that constituteevent-triggers, such as 2 seconds remaining on the shot clock in abasketball game, are assigned values that correspond to a weighting.This weighted parameter is input along with additional weightedparameters, described in more detail herein, to determine if anevent-segment has occurred.

External Metadata

External metadata is monitored for event-triggers. External metadataconstitutes information regarding a live-action event, such as asporting event, that can reflect the likelihood of an event-trigger,which is not scoring information or scoreboard information. For anylive-action event, a host of facts, figures, statistics and changes canbe monitored that are not scoring information and do not typicallyappear on a scoreboard. External metadata therefore comprisesinformation, including, without limitation, facts, figures, statisticsand changes in a live-action event that indicate that something, like anevent-segment, is happening. By way of an example, and without intendingto limit the scope of the claims, during a professional football game,when one team chooses to punt the ball, the hang-time of the ball—i.e.,the time for which the ball is in the air—is a fact that can bemonitored. A detector that detects a punted ball's hang-time to exceed apredetermined threshold can, according to certain user preferences,constitute an event-trigger.

Turning back to FIG. 3 in STEP 304, it is determined whether theplurality of one or more event-triggers indicate that an event-segmenthas occurred. To determine whether an event-segment has occurred, theevent-triggers are algorithmically compared. In one embodiment, each ofthe event-triggers are assigned weighted values that correspond to theweight that should be given to each detected event-trigger. In alternateembodiments, each respective detector that is monitoring for anevent-trigger is also assigned a weight, which either alone or incombination with the weights assigned to each respective event-trigger,correspond to how event-triggers from different detectors should beweighed relative to each other. Put another way, each event-trigger isassigned a predetermined weight that corresponds to the weight of thedetector that detected that event trigger relative to the detectors thatdetected additional event-triggers. By way of an example, and withoutintending to limit the scope of the claims, an audio detector located ata baseball stadium to monitor changes in the decibel level of the crowdmay be assigned less weight then a physical sensor that indicates abatter swinging a bat. This is because a batter swinging at a pitch ismost likely, though not definitively, a more reliable indication that anevent-segment has occurred than a rise in the crowd's volume. This isbecause large-stadium baseball crowds typically afford fluctuatingdecibel levels that are not necessarily directly tied to eventstranspiring in the game. In an alternate embodiment, an event-trigger isweighted based upon how likely it is that that event-trigger correspondsto an event-segment. This weight is assigned independent of any otherdetectors. Rather, by way of an example, and without intending to limitthe scope of the claims, a frame-by-frame pattern recognition detectorfor a soccer game that registers a sharp change in the frequencydistribution of the color green in the video feed during a short periodof time is given more weight than a small change in the frequencydistribution of the color green over a longer period of time, presumingthat in both instances, the frequency distribution was high enough toexceed a predetermined threshold and thereby constitute anevent-trigger. The shorter, sharper frequency distribution change morelikely indicates a shot on goal, whereas the gradual frequencydistribution change may only indicate a kick down the field. In stillanother embodiment, event-triggers are assigned weighted values based ona combination of the foregoing two means to assign weighted values.

The respective weightings that are assigned to event-triggers and todifferent detectors are algorithmically compared to determine whether anevent-segment has occurred. In one embodiment, each of the weightedvalues are added and/or operated upon in conjunction to determinewhether the result exceeds a predetermined threshold. In an alternateembodiment, the weighted values are added and/or operated upon inconjunction to determine whether the result falls within a predeterminedrange of values. In these embodiments, operations performed upon theweighted values in conjunction can include, without limitation, by wayof an example and without intending to limit the scope of the claims,any form of algebraic or other operations, including, but not limitedto, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, conditionaloperations, on/off operations, where a weighted value or the result ofan operation either equals a predetermined value or not. In an alternateembodiment, the weighted values are added and/or operated upon inconjunction to determine whether the result is greater than or equal to,or in the alternative, less than or equal to, a predetermined value. Inalternate embodiments, one or more of the following operations areperformed upon the one or more of the weighted values to calculate aresult that is then used, subsequently, along with additional results tocalculate further results corresponding to a predetermined threshold.

Each time a detector registers an event-trigger, the time of the eventtrigger is recorded. In one embodiment, for each detector that registersan event-trigger at the same exact time, only the weighted valuesassigned to each of those detected event-triggers are algorithmicallycompared, and only using those event-triggers, it is determined whetheran event-segment has occurred. In an alternative embodiment, for eachdetector that registers an event-trigger within a predetermined range oftime, each of the assigned weighted values corresponding to theevent-triggers within that range of time are compared. This is becausedifferent detectors may detect event-triggers corresponding to the sameevent-segment, but at different times. By way of an example, and withoutintending to limit the scope of the claims, a radar gun detecting abatter's swing may detect the speed of the swing before an audiodetector detects an increase in the crowd noise, which occurs before thescoreboard indicates “STRIKE 1”. Because each of the foregoing threedetections constitute three different event-triggers that neverthelesscorrespond to the same event-segment, i.e., a batter swinging andmissing, but because all three event-triggers occurred within apredetermined range of time, all three event-triggers are weighted andalgorithmically compared to determine if an event-segment occurred.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary example ofvideo-segmentation. This example is directed to video-segmenting anevent-segment during a live broadcast of a baseball game. Initially,before video-segmentation occurs, live video-content of the baseballgame is captured by a camera, and the video feed is input into the ORBBox, as previously described, or into a server that performspre-encoding and then transmits the video feed to the Cluster, or intoanother server for the purpose of performing video-segmentation. Asdiscussed above, whether or not to bifurcate pre-encoding andvideo-segmentation among two or more distinct processors, servers,clusters or grids is a design-decision to account for each user'savailable processing power and storage capacity.

FIG. 5 is an example of a single video feed. At time T 101, theevent-state is monitored via the scoreboard, which indicates that it isthe end of the first inning and that the game is not currently in-play.The event-state is therefore indicated to be “off”, and recording of thevideo feed, which is most likely airing a commercial break, is stopped.At time T 102, the scoreboard indicates that it is the top of the secondinning, and accordingly, the event-state changes to “on”. Recording ofthe video feed then begins.

At time T 103, the batter takes a warm-up batting swing. A radar gunlocated at the baseball stadium measures the speed of the warm-up swing.Initially, a predetermined threshold velocity is determined. Thisthreshold is assigned is heuristic, empirical or estimated. In thisexample, the threshold velocity was determined based on the likelihoodthat a swing above a given speed corresponds to a swing at pitch.Sometimes, batters in a baseball game taking a warm-up swing will notswing the bat too quickly. At times this is due to a physical weightattached to the end of the bat that slows the swing's velocity. Othertimes, batters swing the bat very quickly during a warm-up swing. Mostoften, batters swinging at an actual pitch during the game swing the batvery quickly, and less often do they swing it slowly. Thus, thepredetermined threshold velocity is determined to be a velocity thatexceeds what is normally considered to be a “slow” warm-up swing at bat.The radar gun measures the batter's swing at time T 103 and determinesthat it exceeds a predetermined threshold velocity. The time that theradar gun detects the warm-up swing is recorded as T 103, and thewarm-up swing is registered as an event-trigger. No other detectorsdetect an event trigger. The frame-by-frame pattern recognition ismonitoring pixel-color changes within the vicinity of the strike-zone.Because the batter has taken a warm-up swing before stepping up to theplate, these swings are not detected. The audio detectors do not detecta significant rise in the decibel level of the crowd. The scoringinformation, the scoreboard information and the external metadata do notchange. A value is assigned to the radar gun's detection of the warm-upswing. In this example, the value corresponds to a number of differentfactors. First, this value corresponds to the extent to which thewarm-up swing's velocity exceeded the predetermined threshold velocity.In this example, the value is normalized and assigned a weight that isdirectly proportional to the extent to which the warm-up swing'smeasured velocity exceeded the predetermined threshold velocity. In thisexample, the value is additionally weighted by the relative importanceinitially assigned to the radar gun's detections with respect to theother detectors in use (frame-by-frame pattern recognition, audiodetectors, scoring information, scoreboard information, and externalmetadata for the purpose of determining if an event-segment occurred. Inthis example, frame-by-frame pattern recognition is assigned thegreatest weight compared to the other detectors, followed by scoringinformation and scoreboard information, which are equally weighted,followed by the radar gun, followed by the other detectors. Finally, thevalue is additionally weighted by a factor that reduces its weight inthe event that a radar gun affirmatively detects an event trigger, butneither the scoring information detector nor the scoreboard informationdetector affirmatively detect an event trigger.

The weighted value assigned to the radar gun's detected event-trigger isthen algorithmically compared to the other weighted values thatcorrespond to other detected event triggers. In this example, anyadditional event-triggers that occurred within a predeterminedthree-second vicinity of T-103 (i.e., three seconds before T-103 andthree seconds after T-103) are compared with the radar gun'sevent-trigger value. In this example, it is initially determined that ifa radar gun detects an event trigger, all other detected event triggerswill be compared to each other provided they fall within the six-secondwindow straddling the radar guns' event trigger. Because there was onlya single event-trigger within a three-second vicinity of T-103, as wellas for other reasons with respect to the specific weighting of anevent-trigger detected by a radar gun in the absence of any scoringinformation or scoreboard information event-triggers, it is determinedthat an event-segment has not occurred. Recording of the live video feedcontinues. None of the recorded video is trimmed and appended withmetadata to produce a video-segment.

The batter then steps up to the plate, the pitcher and the catcherexchange signals, and the pitcher then winds up and delivers a pitch. Attime T-104, the batter swings the bat and hits the ball, which travelsover the outfield and then over the left-field wall. Frame-by-framepattern recognition detects the batter's swing within the strike zone,and it records the time of the swing. Frame-by-frame pattern recognitionalso detects a marked increase in the pixel-color frequency distributionof a predetermined selection of colors heuristically determined tocorrespond to an image comprising fans in the stands. The time of thisdetection is also recorded. A radar gun detects the speed of theswinging bat, and the time of the swinging bat is recorded. Audiodetectors detect a marked increase in the decibel level of the crowd,and the time at which the rate of increase of the decibel level ishighest is recorded. Scoring information indicates that a run hasscored, and the time the score changes is recorded.

In this example, the time that is recorded for each registered eventtrigger is predetermined. For instance, frame-by-frame patternrecognition records the time when the rate of change of the pixel-colorfrequency distribution is the fastest. Alternatively, the time recordedby a frame-by-frame pattern recognition event trigger could be the timethe frequency distribution begins to change. In still alternativeembodiments, it is a design-decision what time to record as the time ofthe change in pixel-color frequency distribution. In some embodiments,the times for event-triggers, such as a radar gun detecting a swingingbat, default for the times of other event-triggers, such as a changingpixel-color frequency distribution. Because video-segments are trimmedwith extra seconds before and after the event-segment, pinpointing theexact moment the event-segment occurs is not typically necessary. Inalternate embodiments, the median time for a plurality of timescorresponding to event-triggers all falling within a predetermined rangeof time is a means for determining the time of the event-trigger for thepurpose of determining the number of seconds to add both before andafter the event-trigger to trim the video feed into a video-segment.

The event triggers detected by each of the foregoing detectors,including the frame-by-frame pattern recognition, the radar gun, theaudio detector, the scoring information and the scoreboard informationare heuristically assigned weighted values. In this example, eachweighted value accounts for a number of factors including, the extent towhich each measured detection exceeded a predetermined threshold, whenapplicable (for instance, scoring information is not detected on thebasis of the change in score exceeding a predetermined threshold). Also,the relative weight of each of the sensors with respect to one anotheris accounted for. Also, a weighting factor that accounts for how muchweight to give certain detectors when other detectors detect anevent-trigger. For instance, in this example, the radar gun's detectionis more heavily weighted than the example at time T-103 because scoringinformation also detected an event-trigger, which is an indication thatthe batter's swing amounted to a change in the score, and possibly ahomerun or an RBI, which is most likely an event-segment that viewerswill wish to see again. The collection of weighted values assigned tothe detected event-triggers are then algorithmically compared, and it isdetermined that an event-segment did in fact occur.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that differentlive-action events contain different event-segments, and accordingly,require different event-triggers. In addition, different live-actionevents require that detectors measure different values, andpredetermined threshold determinations will differ with respect todetermining if event-segments—specific to each live-actionevent—actually occurred. Accordingly, different live-action eventscontain different event-segments that can be detected using a variety ofalgorithms that input values assigned to the event-triggers that can bepreprogrammed and tailored by the user to meet the demands of thelive-action event that is being monitored. Weightings determinationsbetween respective detectors, as well as assignment of respectiveweights, are likewise different for different live-action events, andeach corresponding algorithm.

Turning back to FIG. 3, if it is determined in STEP 304 that anevent-segment has occurred, then in STEP 305, it is determined where toclip the beginning and end of the video-clip so that it includes theevent-segment. In one embodiment, event-triggers are used to determinehow long the event-segment should be. By way of an example, and withoutintending to limit the scope of the claim, the scoreboard indicates thata strike occurred, a physical sensor indicates that the batter swung,and frame-by-frame pattern recognition does not indicate that apre-selected pixel color's frequency distribution did not exceed apredetermined level (thereby indicating that the batter did not hit afoul ball, but swung and missed the ball). Typically, baseball viewersinterested in downloading a batter swing and miss a ball will only beinterested in viewing a few seconds before the swing and only one or twoseconds after the swing. Accordingly, using detectors, including thescoreboard-information indicating a strike has occurred, the recordedlive video feed is trimmed to produce a video-segment that commencesfive seconds before the swing (or one of the recorded times registeredby one of the detectors registering the swing as the event-trigger) andtwo seconds after the swing. The number of seconds that the live videofeed is trimmed both before and after the event-trigger time is a designdecision that can be altered by the user depending on the live-actionevent. By way of another example, and without intending to limit thescope of the claims, the scoreboard indicates that a run is scored, theframe-by-frame pattern recognition indicates an increase in pixel-colordistribution at a level that has been heuristically determined toindicate that the camera is panning over the crowd, and the audiodetectors measure a decibel level among the crowd increase that greatlyexceeds a predetermined threshold. Typically, baseball viewersinterested watching the high-light of a homerun prefer it to beginshortly before the batter hit the ball, to include the wind-up anddelivery of the pitch by the pitcher, and to end shortly after the balllands in the stands, so that viewers can watch fans scramble to pick upthe ball. Accordingly, using detectors, including scoreboard-informationindicating that a run has scored, or scoring information indicating thata homerun has occurred, the recorded live video feed is trimmed toproduce a video-segment that begins five seconds before the swing andends forty seconds after the swing. In this example, the swing is usedas the event-trigger that records a time from which both the beginningand end of the video-segment are measured. Alternatively, the decibelincrease among the crowd, or some other event trigger, could be themeasuring point for the event-segment, in which case the length of timetrimmed before and after that respective event-trigger will likely bedifferent.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that in analternative embodiment, additional inputs can heuristically guide thedetermination of when to trim the live video feed to begin and end theevent-segment so that it becomes more consistent with the user'spreferences over time. In this embodiment, therefore, a manual operatorcan manually override the beginning and end time determined for a givenvideo-segment. By way of an example, and without intending to limit thescope of the claims, a heuristically developed algorithm trims thevideo-feed of a homerun to commence five seconds before the batter'sswing and to end 30 seconds after the batter's swing. A manual operatorcommand is received that overrides those beginning and end parametersfor the video-segment so that it ends 40 seconds after the swing because30 seconds failed to capture the fans scrambling for the ball in thestands. Going forward, in the event that an event-segment is beingtrimmed for a homerun, the determination for when to begin and end anevent segment will be consistent with the prior manual override. In oneembodiment, a calculation is made of the difference between what wasinitially calculated (30 seconds from event-trigger until end ofvideo-segment) and the resulting video-segment with manual override (40seconds). In this example, the difference is 10 seconds. Going forward,10 seconds are added to any calculation for a homerun for the timedetermined from the event-trigger until the end of the video-segment.For additional received manual overrides for the same event-segments,the average difference over multiple over-rides is calculated and addedor subtracted from the initial algorithmically determined time. In thisexample, an additional override for a homerun that adds 8 seconds will,subsequently, for the third homerun, add 9 seconds, provided there is noreceived manual over-ride for the third homerun. In this way, a systemand/or process suitable as an embodiment of the present disclosure caneffectively learn how to best trim the video-segments to align withuser-preferences for different event-triggers, different event-segments,and different live-action events.

Turning back to FIG. 3, in one embodiment, in STEP 306, the recordedvideo is clipped according to the determinations in STEP 305, and inSTEP 307, information is added to the trimmed video-clip, and theresultant product is a video-segment. The added information comprisesinformation that live-action spectators, such as fans, prefer to knowabout an event-segment. By way of an example, and without intending tolimit the scope of the claims, a clip showing a homerun in a baseballgame includes metadata comprising, without limitation, one or more ofthe following: a description of the event segment (such as “Homerun”),the batter's name, the game's score, the inning, the number of outs, thebatter's batting average, and so forth.

Turning back to FIG. 1, in one embodiment, in STEP 108, menus aretransmitted to registered devices. Initially, at some point, devicesregistered to receive video-segments according to an end-user'spreferences are determined, which is described in more detail below. Byway of an example, and without intending to limit the scope of theclaims, an end-user initially register's a device to receive menusdisplaying available video-segments pursuant to a set of pre-selectedpreferences. By way of an example, and without intending to limit thescope of the claims, an end-user registers a device to receive menusdisplaying available video-segments from all baseball games on a givenSaturday. Upon reception that a specific baseball game included on thetransmitted menu has been selected, another menu is transmitted to theregistered device showing all available video-segments for that specificbaseball game.

FIG. 6 is an illustrative example of a menu transmitted to a registereddevice that shows available video-segments, along with attendantinformation, displayed on a registered device for a specific baseballgame. In this example, the video-segments are listed from the top as theevent-segments occurred chronologically during the game. The menucontains information that video-segment number 1 corresponds to thebatter, M. Aviles, who wears the number 30 for his respective team, itis the top of the 10th inning, and the event-segment is that there was aball thrown for the M. Aviles' third pitch at bat. Turning to number 4the mean contains information that indicates that in video-segmentnumber 2, M. Aviles hit a homerun to left-field. Finally, the menuindicates that video-segment number 3 is a video-clip of theevent-segment wherein R. Gload, who wears number 7, received a ball onhis first pitch. Additional embodiments with respect to the menucontaining available video-segments is described in more detail below.

In one embodiment, the information describing the event-segment thatappears on the menu in FIG. 6, and in some embodiments, is added to thevideo-feed to comprise the clipped video-segment, is generated as afunction of the detected event-triggers. By way of an example, andwithout intending to limit the scope of the claims, referring to FIG. 6,in video-segment number 2, the textual data indicates that thevideo-segment contains a clip showing M. Aviles hitting a homerun toleft-field. In this example, this event-segment was determined based, inpart, upon detections of scoring information that indicated that thescore had changed, as well as changes in scoring information indicatingthat one run had been scored for M. Aviles' team. The event-segment wasalso determined in part by other detected event-triggers, includingexternal metadata that indicated that M. Aviles was still at bat, and apitch was thrown, and no runners were on base, as well as otherevent-triggers that indicated that the period of time after M. Avilesswung his bat and before the scoring information changed was below apredetermined threshold. Together, that information was input into afunction yielding the conclusion that M. Aviles hit a homerun.Additional event-triggers could have yielded detections that aided inthis determination, including frame-by-frame pattern recognition of thenumber worn by the player at bat, which corresponds within apredetermined database to the number worn by M. Aviles. Accordingly, ina similar manner described above regarding detected event-triggersassigned weighted values and algorithmically compared to determine ifand when an event-segment occurred, event-triggers can be input intofunctions that can narrow down the likelihood that what occurred—whatthe actual event-segment was—is only one among a database ofpredetermined possibilities. In this example, the time before therecorded time of a radar gun detecting the swinging of a bat and therecorded time of the scoring information changing, and the detection ofexternal metadata indicating that no runners were on base, yielded thesingle conclusion that a homerun was likely hit, and this determinationcorresponds to a predetermined word, phrase or other form of textualdata, which in this case is “homered”. Similar determinations concludethat it was M. Aviles who hit the homerun, and that the homerun was hitto left-field. In this way, the event-triggers, along with thedetermination that event-segments occurred, can functionally correspondto textual data describing the event-segment that can be added to theevent-segment to constitute the video-segment and be displayed in themenu to describe what event-segment is contained in the video-segment.

Turning back to FIG. 1, in STEP 106, the video-segment is transcoded. Inthis step, the video-segment is transcoded to a plurality of video/audioencodings compatible with the spectrum of different cellular telephoneand personal computer operating system formats. Typically, differentcellular telephone carriers deploy different and incompatible encodingregimes. In addition, different cellular telephone devices supportdifferent encoding regimes. Video-segments are therefore transcoded to aplurality of encodings to permit their transmission over a plurality ofcarriers to a plurality of mobile devices. Similarly, video-segments aretranscoded for support by a plurality of protocols and encodings topersonal computers over the Internet. In alternate embodiments,transcoding comprises one of more of the following: changing a signal,such as a digital bitstream, for the purpose of, without limitation,compression, encryption or translation from one code to another,re-coding, and transcoding both lossy and lossless data. Transcoding asused herein is generally well-known by those skilled in the art, and theforegoing list is not intended to comprise an exhaustive list of alltranscoding operations, nor by virtue of being listed here, is theforegoing list intended to limit the scope of the claims. In analternate embodiment, the pre-encoded or not pre-encoded event-segmentis already encoded to be compatible with a single cellular telephonecarrier or registered device, and in this embodiment, encoding isunnecessary. In an alternate embodiment, the video-feed is transcoded toa plurality of encodings before event-segments are recorded and/orbefore event-segments are trimmed into video-segments.

Turning back to FIG. 1, in STEP 107, an end-user's device is appraisedfor different parameters for the purpose of determining the optimalmeans for transmitting menus of available video-segments as well asvideo-segments. Initially, an end-user's device is registered for thepurpose of receiving video-segments. End-user devices capable ofreceiving audio/video content are widely known by those skilled in theart. These can include, without limitation, cellular telephones and/orpersonal computers. In one embodiment, an end-user receivesvideo-segment via connection with the internet. In an alternateembodiment, an end-user receives a video-segment on a mobile device viaShort-Message-Service (SMS) alert text message or aMultimedia-Messaging-Service (MMS) message from aShort-Message-Peer-to-Peer (SMPP) server. In an alternate embodiment, anend-user receives a video-segment on a mobile device via WirelessApplication Protocol (WAP) server. In alternate embodiments, additionaldevices and means for receiving audio/video content well-known by thoseskilled in the art is used for the end-user to receive video-segments.

Appraisal of an end-user's device that has been registered to receivevideo-segments includes determining one or more parameters of thedevice, which include, without limitation, and by way of an example andwithout intending to limit the scope of the claims, the device's makeand model, the device's carrier system, wireless mode and so forth.Following appraisal of these parameters, the optimal encoding andtransmission parameters are chosen, including, without limitation, theoptimal frame-rate, resolute, data size, video codec, audio codec.Following this determination, requested video-segments and menu-pagesare transmitted to the end-user's registered device.

Turning back to FIG. 6, an illustrative snapshot of a screen on cellulartelephone or personal computer belonging to an end-user whose device isregistered to receive video-segments. Initially, in one embodiment, anend-user's preferences to access video-segments corresponding tocategories of pre-selected event-segments will have been registered. Byway of an example, and without intending to limit the scope of theclaims, an end-user's preference to access all video-segments forSaturday's baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the NewYork Mets will be registered, and only video-segments satisfying thatcriteria, i.e., from that game, will be transmitted to that end-user'sdevice. Alternatively, in addition to preferences to view select games,an end-user's preferences to access only video-segments for certainsports, players, musicians and so forth can be initially selected. Byway of another example, and without intending to limit the scope of theclaims, only video-segments from a specific game where a player hits ahomerun can be provided to an end-user's device. In alternateembodiments, the textual data that is generated in connection with thedetermination if and when an event-segment occurred is catalogued indatabase that enables end-users to submit search requests, for thosesearch requests to be received, and for a search program and/or video ortextual filtering algorithms well-known by those skilled in the art todisplay all video-segments corresponding to the end-user's inputtedsearch criteria.

In this embodiment, an end-user's mobile device, such as a cellulartelephone, contains a WAP browser. The WAP browser enables the end-userto access a menu-page, shown in FIG. 6. An image corresponding to anevent-segment is shown along with metadata describing the event-segment.Clicking or enabling the pictured event-segments thus prompts thecellular telephone or personal computer to display the video-segmentcorresponding to the event segment. In one embodiment, the most recentevent-segments are at the top of the list, and by scrolling down, theend-user scrolls down to access event-segments that occurred earlier intime. In alternative embodiments, event-segments can be arrangedaccording to different criteria. By way of an example, and withoutintending to limit the scope of the claims, event-segments can bearranged to show all home-runs first, followed by all strike-outs,followed by other pre-selected preferences for specific event-segments.Alternatively, all event-segments corresponding to a specific player ormusician or song or race-car can be displayed first. In alternateembodiments, different camera views of the same event-segment can bedisplayed on the end-user's device for selection either before or afteran end-user selects to display a particular event-segment. By way of anexample, and without intending to limit the scope of the claims, anend-user's WAP-enabled device prompts an end-user to select anevent-segment. Turning back to FIG. 6, the end-user selects the secondvideo-segment, in which the information indicates that “M Aviles homeredto left.” Following this selection, the end-user's device is prompted toselect from a plurality of camera views that captured the homerun hit byM Aviles at the same time. Initially, the video-feed will comprise aplurality of camera-feeds capturing video-content of the baseball gamefrom different angles and/or perspectives. Although only one cameraangle may be shown on television at one time, as broadcast by theparticular television network and/or station broadcasting the baseballgame, the end-user's device is enabled to select from a plurality ofvideo-feeds capturing the same homerun.

In an alternate embodiment, multiple video-segments are edited togetherto form another video-segment or video clip that comprises a series ofindividual video-segments. By way of example, and without intending tolimit the scope of the claims, a series of video-segments that werecreated from a single baseball game can be edited together to form avideo-segment that comprises a mini-game. In this example, the mini-gamewill effectively comprise the game's highlights edited togetherchronologically so that a user viewing the mini-game can appreciate theoverall narrative of that particular game by viewing its highlightsalone via the mini-game. In another example, a video-segment comprisingthe highlights from a musical concert is edited together to form alonger video-segment. In an alternate embodiment, rather thanchronologically editing together all the highlights from a particularsporting event, only specific types of highlights are edited together.By way of example, and without intending to limit the scope of theclaims, a mini-game is created by editing together all video-segmentsthat comprise goals from a particular soccer game. In another example, amini-game is created by editing together all video-segments thatcomprise the goals scored by only one of the teams from a particularsoccer game. In another example, a mini-game is created by editingtogether video-segments that only comprise goals scored by a particularplayer from a particular soccer game.

In an alternate embodiment, multiple video-segments are edited togetherto form another video-segment that does not necessarily summarize thenarrative of a particular game or live-action event, but comprises ahighlight reel or highlight clip of a specific player, or some othercriteria or metric. By way of example, and without intending to limitthe scope of the claims, a highlight reel is created by editing togethera series of video-segments of a specific baseball player hittinghomeruns throughout his baseball career. In another example, a highlightreel is created by editing together a series of video-segments of aspecific basketball player making a three-point shot, or rebounding theball, or receiving a technical foul from a particular game, a particularseason, a particular career, or some other predetermined range ofactivity. In another example, a highlight reel is created by editingtogether a series of video-segments comprising a particular musiciansinging his or her signature wail, screech, sound, guitar lick, drumsolo, and so forth. In another example, rather than creating a highlightreel with a specific sports figure or musician doing the same thing, ahighlight reel can be created by editing together a series ofvideo-segments that show different players doing different things. Forexample, if one player typically assists and another player typicallyscores, the highlight reel can be created by editing together a seriesof video segments of one player making assists and the other playerscoring. Accordingly, highlight reels can be created by editing togethera series of video-segments that satisfy any given criteria or metricdesignated as a design-decision by the user.

In an alternate embodiment, a highlight reel, or other series of editedtogether video-segments can be generated pursuant to a user'spersonalization filters. By way of example, and without intending tolimit the scope of the claims, via a menu or other forum for a user toselect its preferences, a user can select favorite play types, players,teams, musicians, politicians, or other type of subject matter, and thehighlight reel can be automatically generated at a certain time toinclude all of or some of a series of video-segments corresponding to auser's pre-selected preferences and/or criteria. In one embodiment, theuser's preferences can be explicit, as in the example of a userexplicitly pre-selecting preferences from a menu of availablepreferences. In another embodiment, a highlight reel can be generatedbased upon implicit preferences. By way of example, and withoutintending to limit the scope of the claims, if a particular userfrequently chooses generation of highlight reels involving a certainhockey player scoring goals, then a highlight reel can be generated withvideo-segments of the same hockey player making assists. In this way,though a highlight reel is not generated pursuant to the explicitpre-selected preferences of a particular user, rather the same user'sprior behavior and prior explicit preferences are used to generate ahighlight reel that the same user is likely to be interested in viewingbased upon predictive algorithmic methods known to one of ordinary skillin the art. In an alternate embodiment, a user's previous explicitpre-selected preferences can generate a recommendation engine or otheranalogous recommendation mechanism that alters, modifies or changes theforum, such as the menu, for the user to make explicit pre-selectedpreferences for highlight reels to cater to a user's implicitpreferences.

In one embodiment, the video-segments are edited together manually. Inan alternate embodiment, the video-segments are edited togetherautomatically. In one embodiment, every created video-segment from aparticular live-action event is edited together to create a mini-game.By way of example, and without intending to limit the scope of theclaim, each generated video-segment from a particular baseball game isedited together. In one embodiment, all generated video-segments from alive-action event are edited together chronologically. In an alternateembodiment, all video-segments are edited together pursuant to adifferent metric. In an alternate embodiment, the automatic generationof a mini-game is designed to satisfy a predetermined time-constraint.By way of example, and without intending to limit the scope of theclaims, a mini-game for a particular baseball game is predetermined notto exceed six minutes. In this embodiment, for each instance of avideo-segment being generated pursuant to the methods described withinthis specification, a weighted value is assigned to that particularvideo-segment, which reflects the relative importance of eachevent-segment. In one embodiment, more important events are assignedgreater weighted values because they typically correspond to an eventthat users would be more interested in viewing. By way of example, andwithout intending to limit the scope of the claims, a grand-slam in abaseball game is assigned a greater weighted value than a one-run homerun. In another example, a musician falling off the stage is assigned agreater weighted value than the same musician's guitar solo. In anotherembodiment, a politician making a joke during a speech and receivinglaughter or excessive applause is assigned a greater weighted value thanthe same politician approaching the podium to make the same speech. Inthis embodiment, upon the automatic generation of the mini-game, orseries of edited video-segments for a particular live-action event, inthe event all of the video-segments generated from the particularlive-action event exceed the pre-designated time, (e.g., six minutes),then video-segments with the lowest weighted values are automaticallyexcluded from the mini-game. This process continues until the series ofvideo-segments edited together to compose the mini-game fall within theallotted pre-designated time period. According to this embodiment, theautomatic generation of a mini-game, highlight reel or other series ofedited together video-segments will meet a pre-designated time periodconstraint while simultaneously containing those video-segments thatusers are most interested in viewing. By way of an additional example, ahighlight reel that is required not to exceed a predetermined timeperiod can be automatically generated based upon predetermined weightingvalues assigned to each video-segment that satisfies the criteria forinclusion in the highlight reel, and only those video segments with theweighting values that are the greatest, least, or fall within apredetermined range, depending on the user-generated design, will beincluded in the highlight reel up until the allotted time for thehighlight reel is met, and then the remainder of video-segments will beexcluded from the highlight reel.

In an alternate embodiment, a mini-game, highlight reel, or other seriesof edited together video-segments, can also comprise additionalaudio/video data that does not comprise a video-segment generatedpursuant to the methods described within this specification. By way ofexample, and without intending to limit the scope of the claims,advertisements can be edited into a mini-game between video-segments.Inclusion of advertisements in a mini-game can be automaticallyincluded. In one embodiment, advertisements from highest paying sponsorsfor the live-action event can be included before and/or after avideo-segment containing the highest assigned weighted value, asdescribed in the foregoing paragraph. In another embodiment, each time aparticular event-segment occurs in a video-segment, such a homerun, anadvertisement from a particular sponsor can be included before and/orafter that particular video-segment. By way of example, and withoutintending to limit the scope of the claims, advertisements can befull-screen advertisements, sponsor insertions, such as a brand,trademark or logo, graphically imposed on top of a video-segment, oraudio insertions between and/or during video-segments. In an alternateembodiment, graphical elements and other animated effects can beincluded within the mini-game. By way of example, and without intendingto limit the scope of the claims, these can include video and/or audiofades, wipes and/or graphics and/or audio “swooshes”, or similar videoand/or audio effects and/or sounds commonly known to a person ofordinary skill in the art. In another example, video, audio and/orgraphical transitions between video-segments can be used. In oneembodiment, non-video-segment audio and/or video data, including,without limitation, graphical elements, are inserted betweenvideo-segments. By way of an example, and without intending to limit thescope of the claims, a “swoosh” sound is inserted in conjunction with orwithout additional video effects, such as a wipe that reveals a newvideo-segment after a prior video segment. Additional audio/videoeffects can be inserted in between or on top of video-segments in mannerunderstood by a person of ordinary skill in the art.

In one embodiment, a predetermined mapping between certainevent-segments and certain advertisers, advertisements or graphicalelements can be pre-designated by the user. In this embodiment, in theevent of the automatic inclusion of a particular video-segment, theadvertisement or graphical elements corresponding to that particularevent-segment will be included in the mini-game. In an alternateembodiment, certain graphical elements or advertisements can be mappedto pre-determined information by a user-design anticipated to begarnered from certain event-triggers, such as, for example, a particularplayer's name, a musician, a politician or other member of a particularlive-action event, a player's scoring statistics, and in one example, inthe event a video-segment includes that particular player, then thecorresponding advertisement or graphical element is included in themini-game. In an alternate embodiment, predetermined mappings betweeninformation garnered from certain event-triggers and graphical elementsand/or predetermined mappings between certain event-segments andgraphical elements can themselves be assigned pre-designated weightedvalues that resolve competing instructions upon the automatic generationof a mini-game to include different graphical elements for the samevideo-segment. In this way, the pre-designated weighted values assignedto the mappings reflect the relative importance of displaying two ormore competing advertisements, graphical elements, or non-video-segmentaudio/video data that are each mapped to the same event-segment or eventtrigger, and thus the relative importance of two or more competingmappings. By way of example, and without intending to limit the scope ofthe claims, if a one-run homerun is mapped to the graphical element of acartoon bat hitting a cartoon baseball, and a particular player, DerekJeter, is mapped to the graphical element that reads, “Mr. November”,then each of these mappings is assigned a weighted value, 0.8 and 0.9respectively. In this example, if Derek Jeter hits a one-run homerun,then the automatic generation of the mini-game would resolve to displaythe graphical element for the “Mr. November” because it has the greaterweighted value, and the graphical element of a cartoon bat hitting acartoon baseball is excluded from the mini-game. In this way, additionalrules and instructions for the automatic generation of a mini-game canbe pre-designated by a user to correspond to the automatic inclusion ofthe graphical elements or advertisements that users preferably wouldwant to see. In an alternate embodiment, a mini-game, highlight reel, orother series of video-segments can be automatically generated to includeadvertisements, graphical elements, or other non-video-segment videodata along with the video segments satisfying criteria for inclusion inthe mini-game, highlight reel, or other series of video-segments, whilealso automatically being generated not to exceed a certainpre-determined period of time based comparisons of assigned weightingsvalues to each video segment. Highlight reels and mini-games can bemanually and/or automatically generated or in combinations thereof,automatically transcoded into one or more video formats, and distributedto various platforms including but not limited to content managementsystems, mobile devices, connected TV devices, and in other contexts.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the presentdisclosure is not limited to what has been particularly shown anddescribed herein. Rather, the scope of the present disclosure is definedby the claims which follow. It should further be understood that theabove description is only representative of illustrative examples ofimplementations suitable for use with the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device, comprising: a processing systemincluding a processor of a mobile communication device; and a memorythat stores executable instructions that, when executed by theprocessing system, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:receiving, from a user device, a selection of a first video segment anda second video segment from among a plurality of video segments of videocontent, wherein the first video segment is associated with a firstevent trigger and the second video segment is associated with a secondevent trigger, and wherein the first event trigger is presentedchronologically prior to the second event trigger in the video content;subsequent to the receiving of the selection of the first video segmentand the second video segment, receiving a selection from the userdevice, based on a prompt, of a first camera angle from among aplurality of camera angles associated with the second video segment; andtransmitting the first video segment and the second video segment to theuser device, wherein the transmitting of the second video segmentincludes transmitting the second video segment with a viewingperspective associated with the first camera angle, wherein the secondvideo segment is transmitted prior to the first video segment, andwherein the second video segment is presented on the user device priorto the first video segment.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein theoperations further comprise: obtaining an advertisement according toadvertisement criteria; and transmitting the advertisement to the userdevice, wherein the advertisement is presented after the second videosegment and prior to the first video segment.
 3. The device of claim 2,wherein the transmitting the advertisement comprises: transmitting afull-screen advertisement to the user device.
 4. The device of claim 1,wherein the operations further comprise: obtaining an advertisementaccording to advertisement criteria; and transmitting the advertisementto the user device, wherein the advertisement is presented graphicallyimposed on top of the first video segment or the second video segment.5. The device of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:transmitting a menu including a representation of available videosegments of the plurality of video segments to the user device.
 6. Thedevice of claim 5, wherein the transmitting the menu comprises:transmitting the menu containing a plurality of selectable tilesrepresenting the available video segments displayed on the user device.7. The device of claim 6, wherein tiles of the plurality of selectabletiles are displayed chronologically on the user device.
 8. The device ofclaim 6, wherein the plurality of selectable tiles displayed in the menuare included automatically according to past behavior of a user of theuser device.
 9. The device of claim 6, wherein the plurality ofselectable tiles displayed in the menu are included according to auser-selected preference of a user of the user device.
 10. The device ofclaim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: appraising the userdevice; adding metadata to the first video segment and the second videosegment; and transcoding the first video segment and the second videosegment prior to the transmitting to the user device.
 11. The device ofclaim 1, wherein the operations further comprise identifying a firstevent of interest based on the first event trigger; and attachingmetadata to the first video segment describing the first event ofinterest.
 12. The device of claim 1, wherein the operations furthercomprise: transcoding the first video segment and the second videosegment to a video encoding compatible with the user device prior to thetransmitting the first video segment and the second video segment to theuser device.
 13. A method, comprising: receiving, by a processing systemincluding a processor, a selection from a user device, the selectionselecting a first video segment and a second video segment from among aplurality of video segments of video content, wherein the first videosegment is associated with a first event trigger and the second videosegment is associated with a second event trigger, and wherein the firstevent trigger is presented chronologically prior to the second eventtrigger in the video content; subsequent to the receiving of theselection of the first video segment and the second video segment,receiving, by the processing system and from the user device, aselection of a first camera angle from among a plurality of cameraangles associated with the second video segment; and transmitting, bythe processing system, the first video segment and the second videosegment to the user device, wherein the transmitting of the second videosegment includes transmitting the second video segment with a viewingperspective associated with the first camera angle, and wherein thetransmitting comprises transmitting the second video segment prior totransmitting the first video segment, for presenting the second videosegment on the user device prior to presenting the first video segmenton the user device.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:obtaining, by the processing system, an advertisement according to anadvertisement criteria; and transmitting, by the processing system, theadvertisement to the user device, wherein the advertisement is presentedafter the second video segment and prior to the first video segment. 15.The method of claim 14, wherein the transmitting the advertisementcomprises: transmitting, by the processing system, a full-screenadvertisement to the user device.
 16. The method of claim 13, furthercomprising: obtaining, by the processing system, an advertisementaccording to advertisement criteria; and transmitting, by the processingsystem, the advertisement to the user device, wherein the advertisementis presented graphically imposed on top of the first video segment orthe second video segment.
 17. The method of claim 13, furthercomprising: appraising, by the processing system, the user device;adding, by the processing system, metadata to the first video segmentand the second video segment according to the appraising; andtranscoding, by the processing system, the first video segment and thesecond video segment prior to the transmitting to the user device,wherein the transcoding is according to the appraising.
 18. Anon-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising executableinstructions that, when executed by a processing system including aprocessor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising: receiving,from a user device, a selection of a first video segment and a secondvideo segment from among a plurality of video segments of video content,wherein the first video segment is associated with a first event triggerand the second video segment is associated with a second event trigger,and wherein the first event trigger is presented chronologically priorto the second event trigger in the video content; subsequent to thereceiving of the selection of the first video segment and the secondvideo segment, receiving a selection of a first camera angle from amonga plurality of camera angles associated with the second video segment;and transmitting, to the user device, the first video segment and thesecond video segment, including transmitting the second video segmentprior to transmitting the first video segment, wherein the second videosegment is presented on the user device prior to the first videosegment, and wherein the transmitting of the second video segmentincludes transmitting the second video segment with a viewingperspective associated with the first camera angle based on thereceiving of the selection of the first camera angle.
 19. Thenon-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein theoperations further comprise: obtaining an advertisement according toadvertisement criteria; and transmitting the advertisement to the userdevice, wherein the advertisement is presented after the second videosegment and prior to the first video segment.
 20. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the transmittingthe advertisement comprises: transmitting the advertisement forpresentation graphically imposed on the first video segment or thesecond video segment.